Shareswatch Australia

So far this year the Australian stock market had managed to edge slowly upwards and the All Ordinaries Index appears poised to settle above 4400 during the next week or so. Although the risks of a major Eurozone economic implosion appear to be fading, the signs are that the economy in China continues to slow and it appears the U.S. economy is still struggling. The situation in China in particular is likely to have a major impact on where the Australian stock market heads next over the following few months.

In the midst this stock market turmoil there may be some battered down stocks which present the opportunity for investors to buy shares in quality companies at bargain prices. Three Australian companies that might fall into that category are Qantas Airways, Telstra Corporation and Onesteel Limited.

So far 2011 has not been a good year for the Australian stock market despite the ASX All Ordinaries  & S&P/ASX 200 flirting with the 5000 points level earlier in the year.  Over recent months the market has fallen back into bear market territory so a review at this stage of some 52 week stock price highs & low may give us an insight into how the market is tracking.

After some promising gains in the first part of 2010 the Australian stock market closed down today to finish the year basically unchanged. In plain English the share market essentially did nothing in 2010 and so if the Australian economy is really booming, then this is not being reflected in the performance of the ASX All Ordinaries or S&P/ASX 200.

Over the last few weeks most of the financial media have once again managed to draw the wrong conclusions on a range of issues from Australian dollar to the strength of the Australian economy.  Talk of the so called two speed economy seems to be back in vogue whereas I believe we should be focused on and worried by, the unbalanced nature of the Australian economy.

Today the Australian stock market is slipping back towards 4500 as once again investors are becoming concerned that the feeble global economic recovery is faltering. But rather than focus on the short term movement of the stock market let’s once again look at the 52 week share prices of some commonly held Australian stocks.

It has been a while since I have looked at the 52 week prices for some widely held ASX stocks, but now that the stock market has taken a bit of a tumble over the last week or so it seems like a pretty good time to have a look at them again. Have stocks hit new lows or have we simply seen some heat taken out of the market?

Now that it appears we are in the midst of the long awaited stock market correction it seems an ideal time to check how the 52 week stock prices have been tracking for a number of ASX listed stocks as this may tell us if the rally of the last 7 months is running out of steam.

One year ago I put together a fictional portfolio of stocks by simply using a random number generator and a list of shares that makes up the S&P/ASX 200 Index. Now 12 months later it is time to look at how these stocks have performed and see if they can tell us anything about the overall state of the Australian stock market.

The last few months have been more kind to Australian stock market investors however I have mainly been on the hunt for stock bargains rather than in selling mode. Therefore since May this year my focus has been on trying to buy some small parcels of shares in companies that I feel will do well over the next few years rather than profit taking.

The Australian stock market has recovered from what appears to have been the bottom of the bear market back in March, so now seems a good time to look at some stock prices and see if they are creeping up to their 52 week highs or still near their lows.

In September last year I looked at the 52 week share price highs and lows for a range of well know stocks trading on the ASX. As luck would have it, a few days later Lehman Brothers went under and stock markets around the world tumbled. But now that the dust has settled (I hope), it might be interesting to go back and look at these companies and see what has happened to their stock prices since September 2008.

QBE Insurance Group (ASX.QBE) is an Australian general insurer that over the long term, has been good to investors. However the stock price has not been immune from the recent stock market rout and the share price was clipped from a 52 week high of over $33 in late 2007 to under $20 in March 2008.

In bear markets we often hear a lot about so called defensive stocks, but what exactly are defensive stocks and are the traditional defensive stocks still a good option in this particular bear market?

In Part 1, I looked at the 52 week high and low prices for a few financial stocks and of course, these companies have seen their stock prices slashed. But surely if the market is being hit by issues related to the credit crisis then there must be some sectors, like food for example, that have held up rather well. (as long as the company involved does not have large amounts of debt)